How to set up Lighting Link in iCUE

Our iCUE software is capable of a great many things. You can create macros, control your fans, track your system temps, and much more.

However, some people don't care about any of that. They just want their mouse, keyboard, fans, CPU cooler, RAM, and any other piece of CORSAIR kit to have synchronized lighting. They want nothing more than hassle-free illumination to create a cohesive setup. This is the main purpose of the Lighting Link function. So today, we’re going to tell you where it is, and how to use it.

Unlike Murals (more on that later), Lighting Link does not have its own tab front and center in iCUE. Instead, you have to find it within one of your Device Modules and apply it. Here’s how.

• Install iCUE and make sure it’s fully up to date.
• Click into any of the Modules you see on the home page, for this example we’re using the iCUE LINK H150i RGB Cooler. It does not matter which one you pick, however, as the whole point of Lighting Link is to synchronize lighting across all of your devices, so just pick one of them.

• Now you’re in the Module, click the yellow button in the “Lighting Layers” section. This will open up a “Lighting Type” box to the right which is where you’ll find Lighting Link. Scroll down within the Lighting Layer menu until you find the Lighting Link sub-menu.

• Click any of these options, and your entire setup should instantly change to the mode you chose.

• Another two boxes will appear to the right of the Lighting Type menu. The first one allows you to add or remove devices from the Lighting Link effects. The second one gives you a few options depending on the lighting effect you chose, allowing you to modify the lighting to your liking.

Now you’re all done, with a new totally synchronized lighting effect spread across all of your CORSAIR gear.

Unlike Device Memory Mode, Lighting Link does not save the lighting preset to the physical devices themselves. This is because it needs iCUE to allow these devices to communicate with each other to achieve the synchronization that you’re looking for.

This can be solved by ensuring iCUE is set to run automatically when your PC starts up. When this is enabled, as soon as Windows loads, iCUE will open in the background, and Lighting Link will kick in. Open the iCUE Settings menu with the gear icon in the upper right and enable this.

Now some of you might realize that this sounds very similar to the Murals functionality, so what’s the difference?

Basically, iCUE Murals is a simpler way to get synchronized RGB lighting across your entire setup, and it can even synchronize your lighting to reflect and respond to what’s on your monitor in real time. This is the main selling point of Murals. (It can also work with compatible third-party products like the lighting strips from Govee and Philips Hue.)

However, if this functionality is not important to you, then Lighting Link might well be a better solution, as it has a wider range of effects for you can apply and customize.